Watch Wednesday #3: Be a Hero

Am I the only one who has been horribly obsessed with superheros since, well, EVER?

The first superhero I really loved and wanted to be was Kitty Pryde in X-Men Evolution. (That’s definitely a show that we should all watch, but that’s for another Watch Wednesday.) Today, we’re going with Japan’s take on superheroes, My Hero Academia.

Be a Hero

My Hero Academia is a Japanese manga that has followed the path of many other mangas and has been made into an anime series (lucky us!). We follow the main protagonist, Midoriya Izuku, who is Quirk-less in a world full of amazing Quirks.

“Quirks” is the terminology used for describing super powers. Eighty percent of the world population has a quirk, and they are unique to each individual.

Izuku has dreamed of becoming a hero his entire life, only to be told he is of a very small percentage that is powerless–Izuku has no quirk, and he will never develop one.

Izuku’s luck turns around when he is the only one to jump in to save a classmate from a villain. The legendary superhero, All Might, watches the exchange and decides Izuku has displayed the type of heroism required to receive All Might’s quirk, “One For All”–a crazy amount of power. (Seriously legit.)

This newly acquired quirk allows Izuku to attend his dream high school, U.A. High School, and train to become a hero along with his crazy-angry childhood friend and the many other heroes of the freshman class.

In My Hero Academia, Izuku works through the series attempting to garner control over One For All and overall come to understand what it really means to be a hero with his mentor, All Might. Within that larger arc, there’s the dark underbelly of villainy as well as real life and death situations that create an incredibly well-structured series so far.

I won’t give away any more of the story–and trust me, there’s a LOT more going on than just coming-of-age stories here–just know that you need to watch it. The character development is fantastic, and that’s hard when there’s such a large and varying cast. The plot is insanely well weaved; just when you think you know how something is going to end, it surprises you.

You can stream it on Funimation and Hulu. All of season one is dubbed and the current season is available with subtitles.